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Published: June 23rd 2008
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Ferrying across the harbour
Shortcut from the guesthouse to downtown Rostock. A half-hour bus and tram trip cut to five minutes! 18 June: I'M STAYING at the Pension "Zum Alten Fährhaus" (Old Ferry House), a guest house and pub/restaurant on the water looking out over Rostock on the other side. Having just one day to see the town, I take a guided walking tour, figuring it's an efficient way of learning about yet another city along the Baltic coast that once belonged to the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages. Our guide is introduced as a retired professor now a member of the local historical society, and I think how lucky our group is to have such an august person showing us Rostock's landmarks. Well, if he taught his students as he now narrates (mumbles) our tour I'm sure they must have dozed through half his lectures. You can tell by the facial expressions of the half dozen tourists trudging along that they wouldn't mind an afternoon nap right now as he drones on... zzzzz
I quite like the city centre which has seen much restoration work done to its historical buildings, eighty percent of which were destroyed during Allied bombing raids during World War II. Sitting on a bench in Universitätsplatz (university square) at noon, the main street leading toward
Rostock market square
Old merchant houses have been restored, but it has been a long and slow process as 80 percent of the city lay in rubble following WW II. it is full of pedestrians, with vendors selling souvenirs, ice cream and grilled sausages from their portable stalls sheltered from the sun by large umbrellas. The sound of a water fountain is accompanied by the rhythmic clink of stone masons using hammer and chisel as they repair a section of tile and cobblestone pavement. I am listening to another sound, that of the English language from the mouths of tourists, but visitors in this hanseatic town seem to come mostly from other parts of the country.
In the late afternoon I take the intercity train to the beach and resort town of Warnemünde which guards the mouth of the long inlet at whose end the city of Rostock is located. And of course I can't let the opportunity pass to take a few shuttle ferry rides across the inlet. At a capacity of 40 passengers they are a bit larger than our Victoria harbour ferries, and built of steel rather than wood and fibreglass.
19 June: THE ONLINE RAILWAY TICKET, printed out at home in Canada, couldn't work any simpler. I have to transfer three times -- four different trains -- between Rostock and Halle. The departure
A fly in the ointment
This one (in a high-end restaurant W/C I hasten to add) stopped me cold, but when I went to the neighbouring bowls, each one had a creepy-crawly printed on the porcelain! and arrival times with names of stations and platform numbers show on the ticket; so it's just a matter of setting the alarm on my watch in case I doze off, and then to check the electronic display in each carriage or listen to the PA system announcing upcoming station. At one time I become a little concerned, as the last transfer isn't at the main railways station of the city of Magdeburg but at one of its many suburbs. Fortunately, the trains in Germany almost always run on time (if not, they'll announce it), and one can pretty well tell exactly where one is at any given time. Also, on each leg of the trip a conductor walks by and checks and electronically stamps our tickets, and she surely would balk if I were on the wrong train. Mind you, by that time I'd already be half way to Berlin or Munich...
I'm travelling through the state of Mecklenburg - Vorpommern. It is flat and fertile, with fields and forests as far as the eye can see. The regional express stops at villages along the way: red brick houses with large tile roofs. I also see thatched roofs
The Fountain of Joy
is a popular place for young and old. The university building can be seen in the background. on houses lining a lakeshore, probably because of the abundance of reeds there. The thing I have always liked about the European landscape is that there isn't the urban sprawl so dominant in North America. Here you have villages or towns that are contained, and the surrounding countryside is just that -- fields and forest -- ideal for the hiker or cyclist; you can always get out of town quickly.
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jsaxton
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OOh, I love the fly. What a strange idea. However, it is something to look at beyond the stream! Saw Out of the Box opera on deafness: quite magical and a great success! Sorry to lose Bill Mackwood and Gwen to Toronto (York U). Weather is warming up but yours always looks wonderful! Super to read your journal. Keep it coming. Love. J.